Angel Food

First, there was Angeli. Then, a couple of decades later, came nearby Angelini, which was a little confusing but okay — Angelini was, of course, the name of the chef. Now, just a block or two down from Angeli is the chic new All’Angelo, which has nothing to do with either of the other restaurants but does also serve Italian food, in this case the northern Italian cooking of Mirko Paderno, who last manned the ranges at Bridge. In years to come, we will probably see restaurants named Les Anges, Angela, Agnolotti, Orangut-Ang, Angelou and the Los Angeles Angels of Melrose open in the neighborhood, all sporting abstracted angel-wing logos, postmodern architecture and pappardelle with wild-boar ragù. At the moment, All’Angelo may be most notable for its remarkable Berkel, a massive, gleaming, black Harley-Davidson of a hand-cranked meat slicer that takes up the space of two tables in the dining room, and which Paderno operates himself, turning out soft petal after soft petal of prosciutto, coppa and speck, arranging them on a salumi plate too big for two people to eat in half an hour, grinning like a 6-year-old with a great new toy. (The signature antipasto may be octopus carpaccio, but it doesn’t come with the show.) Pastas are house-made, often dressed with soft masses of long-braised meat; main courses tend toward wintry, meaty things, including a respectable sort of ballotine of roast guinea hen stuffed with an elaborate forcemeat. 7166 Melrose Ave., L.A., (323) 933-9540.